AG Systems
AG Systems International (also referred to as AG-S or AG-SYS) are an anti-gravity racing team hailing from Japan. The team seem to be associated with the pioneer of AG racing, Pierre Belmondo, and like many of the early teams had found a start near 2040. Their crafts are notable for being quite technical, usually a step above the FEISAR in terms of speed while lacking some shields in the name of having a craft with good acceleration and turning. However the history of the team is far from smooth. History The company started as the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research, a member of the World Anti-Gravity Research Congress, in the early 21st century. The Foundation became the leader in Anti-Gravity research with Pierre Belmondo as director in 2024. But later that year, influenced by profit-driven governments, the Congress was shut down and anti-gravity technology deemed "inefficient" and "never..cost-efficient". Regardless, Belmondo push on anti-gravity research in secret. He proved the whole world that anti-gravity transport was possible when he accomplished the first flight in an AG ship in 2035. Due to a shortage of funds, AG Systems was established as the commercial arm of the Foundation in 2040 with Belmondo as director. The whole company was sold off to a Japanese consortium not long after. Even though operations moved to Tokyo, Belmondo remained as director. It was this time where both the establishment of an anti-gravity racing league were established, and the establishment of the other original four teams as a result of AG Systems' influence: *Auricom and Qirex: established by former employees of AG Systems *FEISAR: to replace AG Systems as Europe's main AG research organization The F5000 league was the first time that the team had done considerably well, their craft was immaculate and it took a little time for the pilots to gain experience and a little extra funding to put the team in a high position. However, with Piranha on the rise it became clear that AG Systems were not the only team looking at the latest tech and other teams were on the rise. The biggest weakness of AG Systems was their preference to anti-gravity research over racing prestige. This led to inconsistencies with the craft and, therefore, poor performance. This reached its peak during F7200 league as the team applied for bankrupcy, then bought out by G-Tech which were as far from the ideals of AG Systems as anything could be, sacrificing agility and technological prowess for a bureaucratic approach of spending huge amounds of funds on a craft that was neither agile or pretty to look at. However, AG Systems continued away from AG racing as its original focus as the commercial arm of the Foundation for European Anti-Gravity Research, providing its patented Anti-Gravity generator to a range of appications spanning from commercial to defense. When interest in amateur AG racing rose in the 2180s, AG Systems turned to providing parts, and later whole ships to AG enthusiasts. This allowed AG Systems to study the racing climate before reforming their Racing Division with its introduction into the FX300 league in 2197. Indeed, the FX300 league was their best yet with gaining a lot of ground on Makana's technical circuits and becoming second overall in the 2206 season before Triakis were disqualified due to use of an illegal equipment on their craft. In the end, AG Systems won and are now looking quite confident to tackle the upcoming leagues. FX400 Message Statement issued by AG Systems International, Tokyo, Japan. "AG Systems have finally turned the corner after spending the best part of a decade fighting for the scraps in the FX300 League. Their strong performance in FX350 class events, coupled with confidence inspiring pre-season testing for the FX400 League show that their 2206 FX300 Championship title was no fluke. As one of the longest running operations in the history of the sport, the Japanese team look poised to continue their resurgence when AG Racing goes global for the 2207 season of the FX400 League." "Established in 2040, AG Systems of Tokyo, Japan are the original pioneers of Anti-Gravity technology. Since the days when our efforts were led by the great Pierre Belmondo, AG Systems has strived to forge new paths to the future that others later followed. Since the inception of the Anti-Gravity Racing League, AG Systems has raced in every form of the sport, achieving the championship title on 25 occasions – most recently in the thrilling 2206 season of the FX300 Racing League. For 2207 we hope to see our friends around the world as we travel the globe in pursuit of Championship titles in the new FX350 and FX400 Racing Leagues." Appearance, Evolution & Stats Generally, the team boasts great thrust and maneuverability. Those two stats are never lower than average in any game AG Systems appears in. This team's craft is usually lightweight and great to use on technical circuits. However, since the AG Systems craft has low shield in most games, it is more vulnerable to elimination (from impact with walls or weaponry) than others. AG Systems can be considered a very advantageous team to use, since its two specialty stats are usually among the more important ones throughout the series, whether it's for taking sharp corners quickly with minimal loss of speed or recovering from weapon impacts. Coincidently, in the game where top speed matters the most among all the stats (Wipeout 3), the team gets its highest Speed rating in the series to date. The AG Systems craft began as a single hulled ship much like the others, however, by 2097 the craft began to diverge a little and become more akin to the first generation of craft that is known. The hull has two canard-like extensions on the front while the rear wings point down from the body, tapering in on both sides. The craft has a light build with the cockpit at the far rear and resembles a single hull design with the centre of the fuselage recessed. The design was continued for Wipeout 3, however the fuselage is now all flush as a single hull, the only major design change at all. With their return in Pure, the craft began a new direction with a wide single hull at the front and a wide, shallow pair of wings at the rear which are joined by a thin bridge structure. The cockpit is situated at the rear of the front section, bringing it forwards on the whole craft by a third. This design has been kept from Pure to HD, however the Fury version of the craft is a lot more solid and streamlined, with what seems to be layers of armour on top of a thinner chassis connected to the rear wings by a more solid bridge structure. Gallery File:Agsystems2048.jpg|AG Systems logo for Wipeout 2048 AGS WO1.png|AG Systems logo for Wipeout AGS WO2097.png|AG Systems logo for Wipeout 2097 AGS WO3.png|AG Systems logo for Wipeout 3 AGS pure.png|AG Systems logo for Wipeout Pure AGS header.png|AG Systems poster for Wipeout Pulse AGS pulse.png|AG Systems logo for Wipeout Pulse Trivia *In Wipeout 3 the established date for AG Systems was 2017, however this was moved to 2040 in later games. *The team conducted its operations alongside the famous Pierre Belmondo, as well as his great-great-granddaughter Natasha Belmondo piloted for Xios in the F9000. *The craft in Wipeout 2097 seemed to blur the line between single and dual hull ships for the first time. See Also *G-Tech Category:Teams